


whiffs of autumn

by schnaf



Series: im-prompt-u challenge [4]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, i'm a sucker for autumn ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26798437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schnaf/pseuds/schnaf
Summary: The world is an amazing place. Look at it instead of your flaws. - It doesn't work all the time. But autumn makes things easier.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: im-prompt-u challenge [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1969618
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26
Collections: Im-PROMPT-u Phandom Creator Challenge 2020





	whiffs of autumn

**Author's Note:**

> guess who's super happy that it's finally autumn? yes. me ♥ just give me some bad weather and i'm happy ♥ ..... anyways, this is contribution no 3 for the im-prompt-u challenge, today i picked the quote: The world is an amazing place. Look at it instead of your flaws.

“Hey." Dan's voice is barely more than a purr. “The world is an amazing place. Look at it instead of your flaws.”

Phil rolls his eyes, but Dan ignores his attitude. Instead, he moves closer, even closer. They're lying in bed together. Phil still smells of sleep, his voice is still a bit hoarse, a bit husky because he woke up not so long ago. His arms are wrapped around Dan, Dan buries his toes into Phil's pyjama pants. Damn, he does like to mock them, but in times like this, he enjoys Phil's choice of nightly clothing.

And they're talking. More like - Phil woke up preoccupied. Hugging him tight, pulling him close, murmuring in his ear that he feels bad, that he doubts himself, that he -

Dan is experienced with self-destructive thoughts, he really is. He also knows that his boyfriend isn't prone to them. Still, it hurts to hear Phil talk about himself like that every single time. After all, Phil is his favourite person in the world and it's a pity that Phil can't see what Dan can see in him, it's frustrating that Phil just looks past all the things that mean so much to Dan.

Phil huffs at him. "Great advice. But you don't even follow it yourself."

Oh, Dan doesn't give up that easily. Of course Phil's right, but - still, his argument stands. So he grabs Phil's hand and squeezes it. "I will. We will - together."

A soft little hum. And it just takes this little hum for Dan to realize Phil accepted his proposal.

Later that day, they get on a random tube to the outskirts of London. They don't pick a particular destination, they just try to leave the city behind them. And it actually works. When they get off the tube, they're in a rural area and it takes them just a few minutes walking to leave the houses behind them and reach a little forest. The leaves have all turned red and yellow and orange and the air smells of - autumn. The smell of the wet leaves. The lingering smell of rain. The smell of the crisp clear air. Dan bows down to pick up a bunch of leaves - in a swift movement, he throws them at Phil. Well, at least he tries to - he misses by a few inches. Still, Phil shrieks and tries to return the attack. Luckily, he's just as bad in throwing leaves as Phil. Luckily, the rest of their trip is a bit more peaceful.

On their way back to their home, in the tube, they almost cuddle. They're both cold so it feels natural to seek each other's warmth and that’s what they do. Dan puts his arm around Phil, casually resting it on the backrest, Phil leans against him.

A few days later, Phil brings home a pumpkin. This time, they don't even attempt to carve it - Phil declares he wants to prepare pumpkin soup. So they start scooping, trying to get as many bright orange chunks as possible and Dan swears at Phil because his arms start to hurt within the first few minutes. Phil wipes away the sweat on his forehead and sticks his tongue out at him and Dan can't help but giggle. As soon as they've collected enough pumpkin, they try to follow a recipe Phil found online. Soon enough the kitchen smells of garlic, then of wine, then of - autumn.

Dan doesn't start eating the soup right away. Instead, he watches Phil take his first spoon. He watches raptly as Phil closes his eyes and hums, a huge smile spreading on his face. Dan reaches out and takes his hand.

One morning, Phil wakes Dan up by shaking him at the shoulder. A glance at his phone tells Dan it's way too early to get up, way too early for both of them to be awake, but Phil doesn't let go, Phil insists Dan gets up right away. So Dan scoffs but follows Phil's request, leaving the warm blankets behind and wrapping his arms around himself in a futile attempt to stop shivering. Phil leads him over to the big windows in their living room, facing the balcony. Then, he stands behind Dan, wrapping his arms around him, not saying a word - and still, Dan understands. He gazes at the fog outside, drowning the whole world, making it look like there was just plain nothingness right behind the trees surrounding their house. There's a shred of fog floating on the far away end of their balcony and when Dan lifts his head, he can recognize the different shapes of fog and clouds in the sky, the sun being just a brighter white circle in the dazzling white nothingness.

They stay there for a while, just looking outside. Then, Dan takes Phil's hand and drags him over to the kitchen island. The smell of hot chocolate makes Dan feel like they brought life to the vast emptiness spreading outside. And even though he doesn't feel cold anymore by now, it still feels okay to cuddle up with Phil on the couch, TV still turned off because it's sufficient to look at the non-changing wall of fog outside, to listen to Phil's breath, to sip on the hot chocolate.

The world is an amazing place indeed. Sometimes, it's a redundant realisation, sometimes even noticing the beauty around them doesn't help them to rise above once they’ve hit rock bottom. But sometimes, it does. Sometimes all they need is to gaze at the wonders unfolding around them, at the little details, at the little banalities of life.

Together.


End file.
